Sen. Kent Conrad’s last stand

The Democrats’ “balanced-budget guy” is set to retire in January. Now he’s laying the groundwork for one last attempt to corral the nation’s soaring debt.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. He has been the Democrats’ balanced-budget guy for more than a decade. In fact, he almost single-handedly forced President Obama to create the commission known as Simpson-Bowles, which produced a debt-reduction plan now hailed as a model of bipartisan compromise on taxes and government spending. Here, he speaks to colleague Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) before a hearing begins on Capitol Hill.Melina Mara/The Washington Post